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Makersmiths: Forging Innovators in Tech and the Trades
Makersmiths: Forging Innovators in Tech and the Trades
By Laura Longley
Ever wonder whether you have the creative chops for, say, metalwork but dodged the challenge for lack of equipment? Since Purcellville opened and expanded its Makersmiths Innovation Forge, there’s now no excuse.
With roots in a nationwide “maker” movement, Purcellville’s industrial-grade facility on Telegraph Springs Road has become western Loudoun’s meeting ground for tech and the trades in addition to their Leesburg location.
Here you’ll find many of the area’s finest woodworkers, metal crafters, potters, and robotics students pursuing their own projects and helping novices with theirs. The draw, of course, is the kind of commercial-quality equipment that’s either too expensive for individuals to buy outright or too large to store at home.
Think of it as a gym, but instead of ellipticals, rowing machines and power racks, it’s outfitted with laser cutters, 3D printers, large format plotters, lathes, routers, forge, paint and powder coating booths, sand- and bead-blasting cabinets, plus picture framing and ceramics studios.
An independent nonprofit, the Purcellville operation is led by unstoppable “makers” like Dave Painter, who helped raise the funds and arrange the equipment donations to launch the facility. But the dream turning to reality was a bright idea from Purcellville’s former mayor, Kwasi Fraser.
“The mayor—he called us—and he said, ‘I’m really excited about the idea, I want one in Purcellville,” Painter said. “And then he dropped a bombshell and said, ‘Well, I’ve got the perfect space for you, and we really want you to come out and take a look.’”
The space was an unused town maintenance building close to Blue Ridge Middle School. It needed work, but that wasn’t about to stop Painter and his crew, who rehabbed the structure that opened in 2018.
Two years later, during the pandemic, Makersmiths value would become clear. As Fraser recalled, “When schools shifted to remote learning, one student seized the opportunity to collaborate with the community of makers to build desks for students learning from home. The makerspace also received a donation of hard plastic, which members ingeniously repurposed into face shields for healthcare workers and first responders.”
According to inventor Sloane Scannell, “Anytime we’ve had a problem with something in the makerspace, it seems there’s someone who knows how to fix it. So, it’s just really cool having so many people.”
Painter agreed. “That’s the advantage of an organization like this. You have people with such a variety of life experiences that it’s always easy to find somebody who knows something or knows somebody who knows something and is willing to bring them in.”
Regular individual membership is $50 a month; household membership is $100 a month. Prospective members also must submit the online membership application, agree to follow the rules, and sign a waiver and release of liability form. Use of all the tools is subject to safety and training requirements.
For more details, visit makersmiths.org.
